Okay, let me first say that I can never keep track of which is the son and which is the father . . . Lavar is the father, right?

He's made such a hubba buloo about Lonzo (is that the son?) going to the Lakers . . . do you think he scares off the Lakers? I could see them not wanting to have the sideshow that is Lavar constantly raining on their parade.

Of course let me through out the caveat that I know really nothing about the players in the NBA draft or team needs.

I think if there is one team and person that can handle him, it would be the Lakers and Magic Johnson. LA needs a big name to build around, and if they think he has the talent, they will take him. I personally have him as the third best PG in the draft, behind Fultz and Fox. I just don't see the hype with Ball. Yes he is a great passer, but this isn't the 90's anymore, you almost have to be able to score 20 points per game if you want to be considered a top 10 PG in the NBA now.

Lavar is everything wrong with sports parents who think it's all about them trying desperately to live vicariously through their children.

The problem the Ball family is going to have is they're now in a no win situation, Ball HAS to become the next Jordan or James, there's literally no room for Ball to fail with as much as his idiot father has built him up. Any stumbles and he's going to be crucified.

Sgt. Largent wrote:Lavar is everything wrong with sports parents who think it's all about them trying desperately to live vicariously through their children.

The problem the Ball family is going to have is they're now in a no win situation, Ball HAS to become the next Jordan or James, there's literally no room for Ball to fail with as much as his idiot father has built him up. Any stumbles and he's going to be crucified.

Crucified , maybe a harsh word. Mocked, beaten down by the media? sure. But what does that really effect?

Lavar Ball, like it or not. Is winning, Lonzo is about the be the 2nd or 3rd pick in the NBA, he will get 15 or so mill guarenteed. Ball set out to have NBA boys, he is a personal trainer and has trained all 3 boys from a very young age.

Like him or most likely don't. He set out on a plan a long time ago and he's on the verge of seeing it through.

Sgt. Largent wrote:Lavar is everything wrong with sports parents who think it's all about them trying desperately to live vicariously through their children.

The problem the Ball family is going to have is they're now in a no win situation, Ball HAS to become the next Jordan or James, there's literally no room for Ball to fail with as much as his idiot father has built him up. Any stumbles and he's going to be crucified.

Crucified , maybe a harsh word. Mocked, beaten down by the media? sure. But what does that really effect?

Lavar Ball, like it or not. Is winning, Lonzo is about the be the 2nd or 3rd pick in the NBA, he will get 15 or so mill guarenteed. Ball set out to have NBA boys, he is a personal trainer and has trained all 3 boys from a very young age.

Like him or most likely don't. He set out on a plan a long time ago and he's on the verge of seeing it through.

What plan is that? To generate negative publicity for his kid and get laughed off the internet for some ridiculously expensive shoes no one's buying?

Lonzo's put in the work and has the talent, THAT'S why he's about to go #2 in the draft. His success has absolutely nothing to do with his annoying attention whoring father.

Sgt. Largent wrote:Lavar is everything wrong with sports parents who think it's all about them trying desperately to live vicariously through their children.

The problem the Ball family is going to have is they're now in a no win situation, Ball HAS to become the next Jordan or James, there's literally no room for Ball to fail with as much as his idiot father has built him up. Any stumbles and he's going to be crucified.

Crucified , maybe a harsh word. Mocked, beaten down by the media? sure. But what does that really effect?

Lavar Ball, like it or not. Is winning, Lonzo is about the be the 2nd or 3rd pick in the NBA, he will get 15 or so mill guarenteed. Ball set out to have NBA boys, he is a personal trainer and has trained all 3 boys from a very young age.

Like him or most likely don't. He set out on a plan a long time ago and he's on the verge of seeing it through.

What plan is that? To generate negative publicity for his kid and get laughed off the internet for some ridiculously expensive shoes no one's buying?

Lonzo's put in the work and has the talent, THAT'S why he's about to go #2 in the draft. His success has absolutely nothing to do with his annoying attention whoring father.

Sgt. Largent wrote:Lavar is everything wrong with sports parents who think it's all about them trying desperately to live vicariously through their children.

The problem the Ball family is going to have is they're now in a no win situation, Ball HAS to become the next Jordan or James, there's literally no room for Ball to fail with as much as his idiot father has built him up. Any stumbles and he's going to be crucified.

Crucified , maybe a harsh word. Mocked, beaten down by the media? sure. But what does that really effect?

Lavar Ball, like it or not. Is winning, Lonzo is about the be the 2nd or 3rd pick in the NBA, he will get 15 or so mill guarenteed. Ball set out to have NBA boys, he is a personal trainer and has trained all 3 boys from a very young age.

Like him or most likely don't. He set out on a plan a long time ago and he's on the verge of seeing it through.

What plan is that? To generate negative publicity for his kid and get laughed off the internet for some ridiculously expensive shoes no one's buying?

Lonzo's put in the work and has the talent, THAT'S why he's about to go #2 in the draft. His success has absolutely nothing to do with his annoying attention whoring father.

Sgt. Largent wrote:Lavar is everything wrong with sports parents who think it's all about them trying desperately to live vicariously through their children.

The problem the Ball family is going to have is they're now in a no win situation, Ball HAS to become the next Jordan or James, there's literally no room for Ball to fail with as much as his idiot father has built him up. Any stumbles and he's going to be crucified.

Crucified , maybe a harsh word. Mocked, beaten down by the media? sure. But what does that really effect?

Lavar Ball, like it or not. Is winning, Lonzo is about the be the 2nd or 3rd pick in the NBA, he will get 15 or so mill guarenteed. Ball set out to have NBA boys, he is a personal trainer and has trained all 3 boys from a very young age.

Like him or most likely don't. He set out on a plan a long time ago and he's on the verge of seeing it through.

What plan is that? To generate negative publicity for his kid and get laughed off the internet for some ridiculously expensive shoes no one's buying?

Lonzo's put in the work and has the talent, THAT'S why he's about to go #2 in the draft. His success has absolutely nothing to do with his annoying attention whoring father.

I cringe at Lavar, but this take is just way off the mark. You see Lavar as some overzealous sports parent trying to relive the good ole days through their son.

Lavar is trying to make money off his sons, not feel better about himself. He created an opportunity, branded it and now is trying to market it. He is far more an agent/promoter than a father in this.

Uncle Si wrote:I cringe at Lavar, but this take is just way off the mark. You see Lavar as some overzealous sports parent trying to relive the good ole days through their son.

Lavar is trying to make money off his sons, not feel better about himself. He created an opportunity, branded it and now is trying to market it. He is far more an agent/promoter than a father in this.

Time will tell if it works out.

Why can't it be both?

You don't talk crap about being better than Michael Jordan if you're not trying to make this about yourself. Half of Ball's nonsense is indeed trying to build his son's brand, but the other half is absolutely about him and only him.

Uncle Si wrote:I cringe at Lavar, but this take is just way off the mark. You see Lavar as some overzealous sports parent trying to relive the good ole days through their son.

Lavar is trying to make money off his sons, not feel better about himself. He created an opportunity, branded it and now is trying to market it. He is far more an agent/promoter than a father in this.

Time will tell if it works out.

Why can't it be both?

You don't talk crap about being better than Michael Jordan if you're not trying to make this about yourself. Half of Ball's nonsense is indeed trying to build his son's brand, but the other half is absolutely about him and only him.

About him making money. The more attention he gets, the more his brand sells. I think it's in the course description of every college marketing class.

Not saying he's not an absolute ass. But he has alot more purpose behind his nonsense then just "i need my kids to be good because I want to feel good" as we see with most sports parents.

Whether you like the father or not, he is smart. He has built a brand and gotten attention for his son. Even people who don't like him are talking about him. Look at this thread. If Lonzo does fall short of expectations, I think a lot of that will fall on his father. Lavar has been the bad guy the whole time, I don't see the media going after Lonzo if he doesn't meet expectations. I don't like to speak on other's parenting, so I'm not going to say he is a bad or good father. We only see what is shown on camera, but there are far worst parents out there than Lavar. It may seem like he is exploiting his sons, but from everything I've seen, he has always been there with them. There is also a good chance that once the kid gets signed to an NBA team, that he will tone it down quite a bit. At some point, whoever is writing the check to Lonzo, will have a discussion with his father. Lavar has always had the power, that won't be the case when his son is in the NBA.

Uncle Si wrote:I cringe at Lavar, but this take is just way off the mark. You see Lavar as some overzealous sports parent trying to relive the good ole days through their son.

Lavar is trying to make money off his sons, not feel better about himself. He created an opportunity, branded it and now is trying to market it. He is far more an agent/promoter than a father in this.

Time will tell if it works out.

Why can't it be both?

You don't talk crap about being better than Michael Jordan if you're not trying to make this about yourself. Half of Ball's nonsense is indeed trying to build his son's brand, but the other half is absolutely about him and only him.

About him making money. The more attention he gets, the more his brand sells. I think it's in the course description of every college marketing class.

Not saying he's not an absolute ass. But he has alot more purpose behind his nonsense then just "i need my kids to be good because I want to feel good" as we see with most sports parents.

Is he making money though?

They've only sold like 200 pairs of his ridiculously overprices shoes, and I read half of those are the autographed ones bought by sports memorabilia sharks hoping to resell them for five times as much 10 years from now if Ball gets good.

Ball is a beautiful passer but he will make the Lakers even slower and worse on defense. Ball and Russell will form the slowest backcourt and worst perimeter defense in the league. On the other hand, his passing is artful and possibly revolutionary. He will maybe get a lot stronger and develop a mid-range game to exploit shorter guards. But for the first three years, he is essentially a young Shaun Livingston. His ego is also fragile and he tends to go into a shell when times get tough. Over time, perhaps Magic Johnson will trade Russell and groom Ball into a good player. I also foresee Ball becoming physically hurt and mentally broken during his rookie season. The criticism from the L.A. media will be intense.

The mediots are enabling Lavar. If they were to ignore him, he would go away. No one heard of LaVar Ball 2 years ago. All of a sudden it seems he's the talk of the town. His annoying behavior is reaching Kardashian levels.

He really isn't playing well. He had 29 points against a horrible Suns team, in his other 4 games he has a combined 22 points. He simply can't score. You have to score the ball in the NBA. He is shooting 31% on the season. It's the equivalent of having a great fielding outfielder but he can only hit .200. Take out the PHX game and he is averaging 5.5 ppg, 8 rpg, 8 apg, and 21% from the field. Those are some awful stats.

Personally, I think rebounding is an overall inflated stat for guards. If Lonzo doesn't get those 8 rebounds he's averaging, good chance most of those end up in his teammates hands. He just happens to get to it first. But when he shoots 2-11, that's 9 shots that don't go in. Likely 3-4 of those shots would have gone in if another player was shooting if you go by stats. This is the new age NBA, you need to be able to score the ball. I don't buy the, "oh he's a great passer." You have to be able to do more than pass. Opposing guards can rest on defense when guarding him, think how rested guys like Westbrook and Paul will be when they play him.

hawknation2017 wrote:Ball is a beautiful passer but he will make the Lakers even slower and worse on defense. Ball and Russell will form the slowest backcourt and worst perimeter defense in the league. On the other hand, his passing is artful and possibly revolutionary. He will maybe get a lot stronger and develop a mid-range game to exploit shorter guards. But for the first three years, he is essentially a young Shaun Livingston. His ego is also fragile and he tends to go into a shell when times get tough. Over time, perhaps Magic Johnson will trade Russell and groom Ball into a good player. I also foresee Ball becoming physically hurt and mentally broken during his rookie season. The criticism from the L.A. media will be intense.

Wow, I totally forgot writing this . . . but it's played out as I originally expected. Magic even traded Russell.

hawknation2017 wrote:Ball is a beautiful passer but he will make the Lakers even slower and worse on defense. Ball and Russell will form the slowest backcourt and worst perimeter defense in the league. On the other hand, his passing is artful and possibly revolutionary. He will maybe get a lot stronger and develop a mid-range game to exploit shorter guards. But for the first three years, he is essentially a young Shaun Livingston. His ego is also fragile and he tends to go into a shell when times get tough. Over time, perhaps Magic Johnson will trade Russell and groom Ball into a good player. I also foresee Ball becoming physically hurt and mentally broken during his rookie season. The criticism from the L.A. media will be intense.

Wow, I totally forgot writing this . . . but it's played out as I originally expected. Magic even traded Russell.

That guy is really crazy. But you can't argue that he is a master of marketing. All people talk about is Lavar, Lonzo, the other brothers and Big Baller Brand. So maybe it worked. I think he is making a lot of money off of this. Which leads you to question is it all an act? I think some of it is. But some of it is just Lavar being Lavar. He is a little bit crazy.